China's envoy slams West's sanctions on Russia; 'will hurt people's livelihoods globally'

Amidst the ravaging war in Ukraine, China has been condemning West's punitive sanctions to cut Russia off the world's financial arteries. Yet another Chinese official slammed the West's sanctions on Tuesday and warned of their global ramifications. Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the Korean Peninsula, claimed that rising unilateral penalties will disrupt global industry and supply lines, as well as harm civilians' livelihoods around the world.

On March 22, taking to the micro-blogging platform, Liu Xiaoming, wrote, "The world economic recovery should not be disrupted. Escalating unilateral sanctions will fracture global industrial & supply chains & hurt livelihood of people of all countries, who should by no means be made to bear the brunt of geopolitical conflicts & major-country rivalry."

Meanwhile, China has expressed deep concern regarding the conflict, however, the country is yet to condemn Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Beijing has also censured stringent economic sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, claiming that they are unilateral and not authorised by the United Nations Security Council.

In response to Russia's continuing military aggression in Ukraine, the US and its European allies have attempted to impose harsh sanctions on the Russian economy. It started by putting $630 billion in foreign currency reserves on hold. Some capital controls were implemented, limiting the transfer of planned investments from one country to another (into-outside Russia), as well as people's ability to deposit money in foreign accounts. Russia has also been cut off from the SWIFT payment system, and its central bank's foreign assets have been frozen, further aggravating the country's isolation from the global financial system.

Beijing's stance on Russia-Ukraine war

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its 27th day, China's stane on the crisis has become more evident. Prior to the war, some analysts feared that China would openly endorse Russia or seek to act as a mediator, but Beijing has so far refrained from doing either. According to China's ambassador to the United States, Qin Gang, who recently wrote in the Washington Post that "waving the baton of penalties at Chinese enterprises while requesting China's backing and collaboration simply won't work, Beijing stands to gain nothing from the fight."

China, meanwhile, has maintained a de facto neutrality stance from the start of the Ukraine conflict. "China is not a party to the conflict, and it does not want sanctions to impact China," China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, said earlier this week. Experts believe that the fact that Beijing has chosen to remain neutral emphasises how dangerous the conflict is.

Image: AP